Monday, May 25, 2015

The Satsuma Rebellion

A
rebellion caused by disillusionment and neglect. The Satsuma Rebellion, led by
Saigo Takamori, it synthesized the discontent that the samurais felt under the
rapidly changing culture under the new Meiji Era. The rebellion could that
could have change the fate of Japan’s transformation.

The
Satsuma Rebellion, otherwise, known as the Seinan War, happened from January 29
to September 24, 1877. Saigo Takamori led the rebellion after his defeat in the
political limelight of the Meiji government. It grew into a major rebellion
because it strike on a pressing issue at that time – the decline in the welfare
of the former samurais. Saigo’s “rebellion” became a hurdle that stroke a
significant blow to the inclusiveness of the transformation of Japan in the
Meiji Era.

To
understand the Satsuma Rebellion, a background about the samurais had to be
discussed. The samurai embodied the warrior culture of Japan. The samurais had
played a role in Japanese society as far back as the 12th century.
Japanese society showed deep respect and admiration to them. They ranked second
to the top of the social caste structure of Japan, placing bellow the nobility
and the daimyos, which the samurais served. People, even to this day, admired
the unlevelled skills in swordsmanship in handling the katana, and the
discipline and the warrior code called bushido that they abide with their life
and upheld until death. Things, however, began to change in the late years of
the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Tokugawa began to decline rapidly after they conceded
to western demands. For the samurai, the actions of the shogunate translated
into weakness and saw their concessions as an insult to the warrior culture and
to the pride of their country Japan. Samurais from the Satsuma and Choshu
Domains plotted against the shogunate and won the Boshin War in 1858, which
ended with the restoration of imperial power and in their minds a new era of
glory and prosperity for Japan.

The
Meiji Era, however, turned to be an era of development for Japan but an era of
decline for the acclaimed samurais. Although most of the senior officials in
the Meiji government came from low ranking samurai families, they pressed on
with the reformation of the Japanese society and began the process of
westernization. Suddennly, many samurai lost their privilege and respected
status in the society. The government prohibited them from wearing their
traditional top-knot and even wearing their lifetime-companions – their swords.
The government provided pensions to the former samurais as compensation for
their loss of status and also livelihood because the government abolished the
domain systems and also dropped the daimyos, which were the employers of the
samurai.

For
the samurai’s it became a disaster. Apparently, a lifetime hardwork dedicated
to the bushido and to the perfection of their skills as swordsmen suddenly
became insignificant and useless in modern Japanese society. Although some
moved on, like Iwasaki Yataro became a businessman and founded Mitsubishi, most
of the samurai fell astray, jobless and clueless how to proceed. From proud
warriors the society and the government neglected their whereabouts. Even
worse, they saw many of the officials in the government, who came from samurai
background, as corrupt. They never pointed their despair to the Emperor because
in their code, they swear also a loyalty to the imperial crown. There
impression of the officials in the Meiji government continued to sour as they
continue to bow down to foreign demands.

Nevertheless,
there were officials in the Meiji government that knew and attempted to act for
the benefit of the samurais and the nationalist passion that the warrior class
had. One of them was Saigo Takamori. Saigo led imperial forces to victory
during the Boshin War. He became a senior official in the Meiji Government. In
1871, when most of the senior officials went to the two-year Iwakura Mission,
Saigo became the caretaker of the government. Under Saigo, an incident with
Korea, however, rocked the politics of Japan. In 1873, the Joseon Dynasty
refused to recognize the sovereignty and the authority of the new Meiji
Government. Saigo saw this as insolence to Japan. He felt that Japan’s pride as
well as that of the sovereignty of the Emperor. The issue whether to invade
take though military actions against Korea as punitive measure became known as
the Seikanron. Saigo advocated an invasion. In the sidelines of avenging the
insult to the nation and the Emperor, he saw it as an opportunity of employment
for the former samurai. War needed soldiers, and samurai could be employed for
the fight. Many samurai then supported Saigo’s advocacy and called for an
invasion of Korea. However, talented politicians from the Iwakura Mission, like
Ito Hirobumi and Okubo Toshimichi, returned home to opposed the proposed
invasion. They argued that Japan wasn’t strong enough and that it must
concentrate first in cementing completely the power of the Emperor locally and
strengthening the condition of Japan through industrialization and
modernization. With most of the officials opposing the invasion of Korea, the
proposal failed to be passed. In dismay, Saigo other samurais in the police and
the military resigned from their post. Saigo returned to Kagoshima in Satusma
Domain.

Building
schools in Satsuma Domain became Saigo’s primary activity after his resignation
in the government. He build numerous schools across the Satsuma Domain, which
placed emphasis in tradition and military arts, including swordsmanship off
course. He even set up a specialized artillery schools. By 1877, his schools
numbered around 120. Because of his position and his views. Saigo gathered a
lot of followers, numbering around 2,000. And with his schools, he developed a
cohesive network of followers.

Saigo’s
followers increased further as government policies made samurais more anxious.
In 1876, the government stood in the brink of bankruptcy and planned to reduce
the budget dedicated for the pension of the samurais. In 1873, the government
had already gave options for the samurai to receive huge compensation at once.
The government made the option to reduce spending, but by 1876, financial
conditions worsen and drastic spending decrease had to be made. And so in 1876,
they made it mandatory for samurais to receive their compensation in lump sum
instead of pensions. And by 1877, rice stipend for the samurais ended. This
angered the samurai further as it meant to drain them of their last source of
income.

Former
samurais rebelled against the measures of the government and the phase of
reforms in society that made them further disenfranchisement. Numerous samurai
uprising rose up in different areas in Japan. In 1874, the samurai from Saga
Domain rose up. Two years later, samurais in Shimpuren, Hagi, and Akizuki
rebelled against the new Meiji government. With the rise in numbers of
disgruntled samurai rebelling, the government became paranoid with the
activities of Saigo in Satsuma.

Satsuma’s
activity made the government anxious. The government became suspicious with
Saigo’s school for their martial theme. They also feared the growing followers
of Saigo and the huge network that he had in the domain. Furthermore, they had
the right to fear Saigo because he had the motives to rebel for his defeat in
the Seikanron in 1873. And so, seeing the activities of Saigo as a path towards
rebellion, they moved quickly in order to prevent them from being well-armed.

Government
then sent a warship to Kagoshima in January of 1877. Tokyo sent a naval warship
to take the arms and ammunitions stockpiled in the Kagoshima arsenal. Samurais
in Kagoshima suspected the warship bearing ulterior motives. Rumors spread that
the government had plans to assassinate Saigo. The rumors along with years of
aggregation of neglect caused infuriation to bold and militant young samurai
followers of Saigo. Samurais then attacked government troops. They also viewed
Tokyo’s decision to send a warship in Kagoshima as a signed of harassment.

Saigo
found himself trapped in the middle. On one hand, and some suggested, that
Saigo had no intentions of starting a rebellion against the government. Many
saw Saigo’s activities in the previous years as preservation of traditional
samurai martial traditions and his network of samurai aimed to be a social and
moral support group for loss and impoverished samurais. And so, when the
samurais that attacked government troops sought his leadership, Saigo became
shocked by the sudden turn of events. He hesitantly accepted the leadership and
proposed a march to Tokyo in order to demand the government an explanation for
the sending of warship to Kagoshima, a change in the phase of reform, and
better treatment for the former samurais. In February, 1877, they marched out
of Kagoshima and go to Tokyo.

Government
reaction came swiftly. They viewed the attack as sign of rebellion and they
sent more troops to Kyushu Island to stop Saigo. A garrison of troops took
position in Kumamoto under the command of General Tani Kanjo. In addition, the
government quickly called on the imperial army composed of conscripted peasants
but armed with modern rifles and supported by modern warships. Saigo, on the
other hand, with over 20,000 followers already by the time they reached
Kumamoto, armed themselves with traditional samurai weapons. They had katanas,
spears, and bow and arrows. And so the rebellion did not only meant a decision
on the future of reforms but also a face-off between conscripted
ill-experienced peasants armed with modern weapons and traditional experienced
and specialized samurais – a fight between the old and the new.

In
Kumamoto, a siege occurred. Saigo asked General Tani to surrender the town and
leave. However, government troops opened fire to what they deemed as rebels.
Soon after, Saigo besieged Kumamoto with the government troops garrisoned inside
on February 22, 1873. The siege bogged downed and weakened the rebels for 50
days. Before the end of March, Saigo’s forces had low supplies and also morale.
Their hardship intensified when government forces numbering around 65,000 under
the command of Yamagata Aritomo arrived in Satsuma. Saigo fought the imperial
forces in the battle of Tabaruzaka and lost thousands of his followers. By
April, the imperial army relieved Kumamoto and began to push Saigo’s rebels
back. For months, Saigo’s followers fought government soldiers while continuing
their retreat to Kagoshima. By September, Saigo had only 400 loyal followers
with him. In a heroic act and a desire to die by the sword and as a samurai,
Saigo along with his remaining followers made a final charge against the
government force near the mountain of Shiroyama. Soldiers in the other side
wipe Saigo’s followers out, even firing artillery from the warships in
Kagoshima Bay. In accordance to the warrior code, Saigo committed a ritual
suicide on September 24, 1877 to preserve his dignity as a samurai.

Afterwards, Japan continued its process of modernization and westernization. Nevertheless, there were samurais who despised the government that acted violently. Such as, after the Satsuma Rebellion, disgruntled samurais assassinated Minister Okubo Toshimichi in a district in Tokyo. The plight of the samurais continued.

The
Satsuma Rebellion became the last obstacle for Japan’s Meiji Government. The
end of the Satsuma Rebellion with the government as victors meant that reforms
would press on. It provided the government a display of Japan’s new imperial
army made of conscripted peasants armed with modern weapons. It showed that the
samurai had no match against modern rifles and the samurai’s age had ended. For
Saigo, the government showed respect and mercy. In remembrance of his contributions
to the establishment of the Meiji Era, the Emperor pardoned Saigo in 1899, and
a statue of him was erected in Kagoshima Castle. The Satsuma Rebellion inspired
modern filmmaker for its theme of tradition versus modernization and it became
the basis for the film starring Tom Cruise, The Last Samurai.